Electric scooters have been linked to a number of different accidents and have been pointed out as a more dangerous alternative than electric bicycles. However, this is not the whole truth, according to a study from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg.
"Previous studies have often compared apples with pears. They have lumped together electric bicycles with regular bicycles, and have not taken into account where, how and to what extent the vehicles are used - or whether they are rented or privately owned vehicles. When we took into account all these factors, we saw that electric scooter users actually have a lower accident frequency than electric bicycle users", says Marco Dozza, professor of traffic safety at Chalmers, in a press release.
The study, which has been published in Journal of Safety Research, is based on data from trips in seven European cities, including Gävle. 686 accidents with electric scooter users were examined and 35 with electric bicycle users. The risk of accidents was 8.3 times higher for electric bicycles.
"When we calculated the travel distance, it turned out that electric bicycle users were eight times more likely to be involved in an accident than electric scooter users. It's a result that surprised us", says Marco Dozza.
The researchers emphasize, however, that the result should not be seen as definitive proof that electric scooters are safer than electric bicycles. There are still uncertainty factors, such as underreporting of accidents.
